


Eat, Eddie

by veseven



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Venom (Movie 2018)
Genre: Anorexia, Fluff, Light Angst, M/M, symbrock
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-24
Updated: 2018-10-24
Packaged: 2019-08-06 18:42:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,858
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16393082
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/veseven/pseuds/veseven
Summary: Eddie has anorexia/bulimia. Therefore, the eating part of his and venom's relationship goes askew. Venom persists that he eat, but Eddie only forces it out every time they 'binge.' Venom, agitated and concerned for his host, tries to comfort him.





	Eat, Eddie

**Author's Note:**

> hello, the name's felix! this is my first fic here on ao3, so i hope it's acceptable! :)
> 
> (please note that i have never read the comics-- all my writing is based purely on movies, so i apologize for any inaccurateness/ooc-ness here and in future fics)  
> -also:i'll give you a heads-up and say that i didn't really do this chapter justice. there was a lot more that i wanted to write but i'm not that skilled at writing yet. hope you enjoy in the meanwhile!

He thought nothing of it at first.

How, throughout the day, guilt and despair would numb Eddie's end of the connection. Growing especially stronger by the night, where he was blanketed with the cold comfort of the moonlight. With the veil of darkness to hide his shame.

Eddie felt lonely. He always was these days.

Although he was with his alien companion 24/7, there still persisted this constant emptiness. A shivering void deep within his chest that not even Venom could pry into. How could it be that this human could be so... torn? So broken? He was not like this with Anne. Not this bad when she had left. What was different now?

 **Eddie...** Venom had asked one night, when his host's eyes were burning and the blankets were stuffed into his face in a false sense of comfort.  **We do not like it when we are sad. Why are we feeling this way?**

No answer, only Eddie burrowing his face deeper into the covers. Annoyance sparked on his end of the connection.

**Is it about Anne?**

Eddie groaned, rubbing at his eyes. He looked terrible-- heavy bags under his eyes; hair matted down to his head and greasy; skin soiled from little showering. "No, it's not," he croaked, voice a weak, groggy presence in the dismal air of the room. "Now let me sleep already. You're annoying."

He left it at that.

These nights were left unspoken between the two. They continued on with life. Wake up, eat, work, eat, watch TV, eat, sleep. Eddie's decadence wasn't imposing enough to be alarming. So they went on...  _normally._ Whatever normal was these days.

**Eddie.**

He sighed, swinging open the fridge to take out two cold beers, placing them on the wooden table with a harsh  _thunk._

**Hungry.**

Eddie's connection buzzed with dismay. "Too bad," he mumbled, brushing the feeling off. He sat down at the table, opening one of the beer bottles and tilting it to his lips. His arm involuntarily jerked to the side, spilling the liquid all over him. "Hey, what the hell, man!"

**We haven't eaten since yesterday. We. Are. Hungry.**

"Suck it up!" the reporter spat, taking a swig of beer. "You can't always get what you want, yknow."

Anger broiled on both their sides of the connection, Eddie's body becoming a shell of vexation that threatened to break.

 **Your liver is looking pretty nice...** Venom's voice rang through his head, through the room, all around him. Amusement thrummed through his connection.  **Fresh... juicy...**

Eddie grimaced, stomach tingling with wrought emotions. "Fine, okay! We can-- can you just wait a little longer, V? I really don't wanna eat right now." A low hum reverberated through his ears, vibrating his very being.

**Fine.**

And they ate later that night.

"Venom-- Venom, wait--" Eddie spluttered as he gained control of his hands again, which had reached for some more food on the table. Something about the sight of so much food sent a flurry of emotions through his veins. Annoyance poised the symbiote's air.

 **You have been acting weird lately,** the alien stated with a disgruntled tone. **Why do we feel so confused around food?**

Eddie gulped. "I-I-- I dunno." He forced his hands into his lap, staring out blankly. "I'm-- uh-- full, by the way, so-- we're done here--" He went to throw the food away.

 **You are lying.**  Eddie flinched.

"I--no I'm not--"

**We are in your head, Eddie. We always know if you are lying to us.**

Eddie grimaced.

**Eat.**

And he did.

 

 

Only for the food to be forced back out from his throat, his knees aching from hitting the tiled bathroom floor.

A comforting tendril hovered around his waist, coaxing him through it. Eddie coughed and spluttered, hands gripping the edges of the toilet so tight that his knuckles turned white.

"Ah, god..." he groaned, breaths ragged as he struggled for breath. He fell back onto his bottom, wiping at his mouth with the sleeve of his rugged hoodie. His face was cold and clammy, lightly sheened with sweat. Eddie ran his hands over his face and tilted his head back, eyes squinting at the bright light of the bathroom stabbing into his vision. "I've gotta be sick..."

Venom said nothing, but a few more black tendrils had materialized, gently stroking his neck in a form of comfort.

Then, overcome with rigor, he went to his feet, flushed the toilet, and rushed out of the bathroom.

 **We are going somewhere,**  Venom muttered, a statement rather than a question.  **Why?**

"Figure it out for yourself, parasite," Eddie mumbled, stuffing his hands in his pockets and getting ready to leave the apartment.

**Parasite?!**

Eddie couldn't help but smirk.

"Term of endearment."

 

 

Eddie had gone to the convenience store to pick up some over-the-counter medicine, returning home with that same, empty air. The loneliness had slowly manifested within him, brewing up again until it could finally strike through the vulnerableness of night. Venom only observed, unable to connect thoughts with the present emotions.

Eddie went to sleep that night in solace.

When he woke, he felt groggy and even more tired than before. Weird how sleep worked sometimes.

Attempting to go back to sleep-- hiding his face in the covers to deter the sunlight-- but failing, he lugged himself out of bed and clambered to the bathroom. On his way, he picked up the plastic bag of items he had gotten last night.

Sadness washed over him upon looking at himself in the mirror, and he averted his eyes to the sink. Venom's connection lightly simmered with curiosity-- a mere presence in the back of Eddie's mind--but no more. Not entirely noticeable, but present.

Eddie rustled through the bag, fishing out a bottle of pills. It rattled in his grip.

**We do not like medicine.**

He ignored him, opening the bottle and setting two pills in the palm of his hand. A tingling feeling of discomfort buzzed through his veins. Venom's feelings.

"They're just pills," Eddie whispered, popping them into his mouth. He turned the faucet, cupping water into his hands and sipping, finally swallowing them down. A jittery feeling washed over him-- courtesy of Venom.

**Do not trust. Medicine is bad for us.**

Eddie stared off blankly, heart fluttering with relief as he began to feel the medicine kicking in after a while. Venom mentally writhed.

**Eddie... stop... why...**

His voice sounded like mere subconscious thought.

"Sorry, bud," Eddie breathed.

 

 

Venom was quiet for the next few days thanks to the medicine. And during those days, Eddie did not eat. He was content.

**Hun... gry... Eddie needs... food...**

He went and took another pill.

This treatment stretched on for a week. Venom was muffled-- pushed to the back of mind; no food passed to his lips; his nightly hours of decadence went unabided. His stomach would grumble-- cry to be fed. It was so used to food these days. Why had food no longer been gifted to it?

Eddie was laying in bed when a sudden pain stabbed the upper area of his abdomen, spreading to his back and making his body ache. He hissed, trying to ignore it, but the pain was incessant.

 **YOU ARE STARVING,**  Venom's voice growled.  **WHY WON'T YOU EAT.**

Eddie yelped and jolted upright, heart skyrocketing as his eyes flew open. "Shit!"

Venom materialized from his shoulder, the flowing, inky black mass extending and twisting, forming his head and those waxy white eyes and seemingly-infinite, toothy smile. Raw emotions vibrated through his connection.

 **"You push us away with medicine,"**  he hissed, mouth moving in accordance to his words. Eddie gulped, a cold sweat sheening his body.  **"You lie to us and say you are okay."**  The inky-black goo shifted and flowed, like kelp in the ocean.  **"Tell us what is wrong, Eddie. We are one, after all. You cannot keep turning us away."**

"I just wanna sleep, man--" Eddie groggily mumbled.

 **"You are trying to avoid us,"** Venom hissed.  **"Tell us what is wrong, and we can fix it."**

Eddie stilled, rubbing at his eyes. There was a short pause as realization clicked in his groggy mind. "Well-- see-- that's the thing," he grumbled, averting his eyes. He shrugged. "I don't--  _know_ what's wrong."

Silence.

**"You are telling the truth."**

Eddie looked at Venom with half-lidded eyes, his expression boasting the word  _'obviously.'_ Another silence engulfed them.

**"Why are you unsure?"**

Eddie slumped against the headboard. "Don't ask me, V. We're pretty messed up already-- this shouldn't come as a surprise."

Venom simmered with thought-- as if he were leafing through Eddie's memories. The reporter sat still, fatigue blurring the edges of his vision. The symbiote's presence gently reflected the moonlight seeping in through the window.

**"Do you have anorexia, Eddie?"**

The question startled him. "Wait-- what?" The suddenness of it momentarily stunned him. How did Venom know what that was? Did  _he_ even know? Just another mental illness in the long, long list of how messed up humans were. Eddie wasn't looking forward to more labels.

 **"You do not eat. You get restless when we do."** Venom tilted his head. **"And if we eat too much, you throw it all up."**

Eddie swallowed. "I-- just haven't had an appetite recently," he tried scrabbling, desperate for the subject to drop. But there was a truth behind Venom's words that made his mind spin. Did he really have a problem...?

 **"You get sad when we look in the mirror."** Eddie glanced away. That much could be understood.  **"Why?"**

His thoughts were enough for Venom to pick up on. Saying it out loud would make it true. This was one of those moments where he appreciated their mental connection. Understanding rippled through Venom.

 **"You do not like what you see..."** Venom quietly said, voice a doleful echo throughout the room.  **"You do not eat in hopes of changing that."**

Eddie thickly swallowed, tears brimming his eyes. "I-I mean, I g-guess," he spluttered, clenching and unclenching his fists in the covers.

More of Venom materialized, his top half now barely visible in the darkness. A warmth spread from his connection, seeping into Eddie's flesh in a comforting feeling. Accounting the memories he had seen from his host, the symbiote carefully leaned in closer, wrapping his arms around Eddie in a reassuring embrace.

The human's heart skipped, overwhelmed with affection, and tears sprang to his eyes. Venom lightly stroked the back of his head, body emanating such a welcoming warmth that made Eddie slightly drowsy.

 **"You are perfect as you are, Eddie,"** Venom gently said, voice a resemblance of a motherly whisper.  **"Your appearance does not determine who you are. It is only you who we care about-- your shell does not matter."** Eddie closed his eyes.  **"If you do not eat, then what left will there to be for us to love?"** His heart fluttered at that, his mind echoing a  _'what?'_

Venom smiled, resting his head on top of Eddie's. The human leaned in closer, heart heavy as a tear rolled down his cheek. The affection was almost overwhelming.

 **"Yes, Eddie,"** Venom breathed.  **"We love you."**

**Author's Note:**

> thank you so much for reading!
> 
> i know it was probably a confusing chapter, but at least it was something. if you have any constructive criticism/comments, please do tell me! it helps me improve :)
> 
> have a great day/night,
> 
> -felix


End file.
